Author: David Indeje

Kenya’s currency Wednesday exchanged at 111.7735  against the dollar, owing to the high demand for import payments. COMMERCIAL BANKS’ AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATES FOR MAJOR CURRENCIES/KES (CLOSING OF MARKET) ON 10-Nov-21 CURRENCY MEAN BUY SELL US DOLLAR 111.7735 111.6735 111.8735 STG POUND 151.1271 150.9747 151.2794 EURO 129.2012 129.0706 129.3318 SA RAND 7.2530 7.2394 7.2666 KES / USHS 31.5818 31.5088 31.6548 KES / TSHS 20.5863 20.5232 20.6495 KES / RWF 9.1201 9.1064 9.1338 KES / BIF 17.8064 17.7035 17.9093 AE DIRHAM 30.4315 30.4014 30.4617 CAN $ 89.3616 89.2674 76.8302 89.4559 S FRANC 121.6649 121.5296 121.8002 JPY (100) 98.0685 97.9592 98.1777 SW KRONER…

Safaricom Plc on Wednesday announced its financial results for its Half Year ended September 30, 2021, and also lowered its full-year forecast for earnings which includes its investment in Ethiopia. The telco’s initial guidance was 105-108 billion shillings excluded Ethiopia. However, with its revised guidance, its core earnings will range between 107-110 billion shillings. Safaricom said its earnings for the first half surged by more than a quarter to Ksh 57.9 billion. The profit before tax stood at Ksh 54.7 billion, a 22.2 per cent increase compared to FY 2020. “We are pleased with the solid performance delivered in H1…

ABSA Bank and Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), said on Tuesday they have partnered to create 1 million jobs for youth through training in digital skills and job placements by 2023. The collaboration between the ICT ministry, KEPSA and Absa Bank Kenya will provide the youth with digital skills as part of the Ajira Digital and Ready-To-Work programmes.  Absa Bank Kenya will provide work-readiness skills training through its existing ReadytoWork program, while leveraging KEPSA’s network to build linkages and alliances that will enable enterprises to outsource work, improving the impact of their ongoing young people’s placement programs. “Like most economies…

The serviced apartments industry is becoming the fastest-growing sector within Kenya’s hospitality industry with an overall average occupancy in Nairobi Metropolitan Area increasing by 13.5% points to 61.5% in 2021, from the 48.0% recorded in 2020, Cytonn Investments reports. According to the 2021 ‘Nairobi Metropolitan Area (NMA) Serviced Apartments’ report carried out by Cytonn Investments, serviced apartments recorded an average rental yield of 5.5% in 2021, 1.5% points higher than the 4.0% recorded in 2020.  This is attributed to the increase in monthly charges per SQM by 0.7% to Kshs 2,549, from Kshs 2,533 recorded in 2020. “The performance improvement…

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Tuesday said the Legal Notice No. 217 issued by Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner General, Githii Mburu “…is likely to create confusion”. According to the Finance consulting firm, the tax collector’s notice seeks to adjust excise duty levied on various products was published on November 2, 2021, but is dated 15, October 2021 and does not clearly define its effective date. “The effective date could be subject to varying interpretation, which is bound to present compliance challenges to businesses and disputes with the tax authority,” they note in their Tax Alert. Mburu reviewed upwards the excise duty rates…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) mopped up excess liquidity from the market worth over KSh80 billion in the week ending Nov 5. During the period, banks held Ksh 15.30 billion in cash balances in excess of the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR). Liquidity in the money market eased, with the average interbank rate decreasing to 4.7%, from 4.9% recorded the previous week, partly attributable to government payments that offset tax remittances.  Market analysts project a further improvement in liquidity levels.  “We anticipate further improvement in liquidity levels in the coming week as the apex bank is paying coupons for various…